You may be asking, "How can I acquire an internship?"

The answer to your question is yes. It is not much more complicated than you would think to secure an internship, and you can get the internship of your dreams much sooner than you might have thought.

You only need to follow a few easy steps, but do not be fooled; you will still need to put in some effort, and you will soon be landing your dream internship throughout your undergraduate career.

By finishing this book, you will feel motivated and equipped to find your perfect internship at your dream firm.

Reasons internships are hard to come by

The reality is an internship may be a terrific method to get your foot in the door at your desired firm, and it is an excellent opportunity to determine whether you genuinely love the job you will be graduating in.

Obtaining an internship has several benefits.

Nevertheless, many college students approach it as simply another tedious chore on their path to graduation. As if enrolling in a new course was all they needed to do to scratch another box off the list before they could cross the stage and get a gleaming diploma in the mail.

This is utterly the incorrect strategy to use.

It's better to approach it this way instead:

The majority of college students who are looking for internships are like salt.

Since salt is a commodity, you don't really care what brand you buy since they are all similar to you. No one could detect the difference if you used a different salt brand. Consequently, the cost of common salt is relatively cheap.

Similar to interns. Most businesses see interns as readily replaceable workers who merely help them meet headcount needs. But what is this?

You DO NOT want to be a disposable item.

If so, you and the following 100+ interns are identical. And that means it's more difficult to get employment, stand out, and turn your internship into a fruitful career.

You want to be a truffle rather than salt. Due to its rarity and value, people will spend significant sums of money to get a truffle.

If you are a truffle, hiring managers won't even be able to imagine replacing you since you have shown via your application that you can truly address their challenges in a unique way that makes you "one of a kind."

You DO want to be unique. When that occurs, you have not only gotten the internship but also set yourself up for future employment possibilities that will be more plentiful.

The Truffle Principle is that.

Since they approach it like salt and scatter their applications everywhere, which are all equally uninteresting as those of other students, this is why so many college students struggle to get a good internship.

You are not to blame. You have been trained to do it by society and custom. However, this does not make the "salt" strategy workable for success.

To "unlearn" all you've been taught about money takes time and effort (like cutting back on lattes is really going to somehow make you rich someday). Fortunately, we've created a comprehensive guide on producing money where we teach you how to handle money, obtain a raise, generate cash on the side, and much more.

1. Define your search criteria

Most individuals will nod and shrug when they hear "get specific." Yes, indeed. I understand.

And yet, very few people really do it!

For instance, what would be your ideal internship if we asked you right now?

What response would you give? 99.9999999% of people would respond as follows:

"I want to do a hard and fulfilling internship."

"I want to collaborate with the Suits people."

"I want to learn something that will enable me to have a significant effect."

"I wish to collaborate with others! "

Unadulterated, pure salt. Blech.

Instead, you should take this seriously and create a SMART objective to assist you in clarifying your expectations for the internship experience.

Remember that internships are much more than earning course credit to graduate. As you read the stuff that comes next, bear that in mind.

Create a SMART objective (Get hyper-specific)

The issue with traditional goal-setting is that the objectives are too general, leaving you unsure where to begin. So you waste time when you create a goal like, "I want to work with people."

That is why we strongly support SMART goals.

SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-oriented. It would be best if you also posed a series of questions for each component of SMART targets to create a successful aim.

Specific. What will my aim accomplish? What detailed result am I aiming for? What are my goals for this internship?

Measurable. Way I will know when I have succeeded in my mission? What does achievement entail? What size business or sector am I aiming for?

Attainable. Do I need any resources to accomplish the goal? Which resources are those? Do I have any connections or special skills that might help me get a job? (You do, really.)

Relevant. Why am I acting this way? Really, do I WANT to do this? Is it now a top priority in my life? How would this internship advance my career?

Time-oriented. What time frame is there? Will I be able to tell whether I'm on the correct road in a few weeks? How long is the intern season going to last?

With this knowledge, we should recast the objective of "I want to work with people" into something much more concrete and doable, such as "I want to intern in client management at a boutique advertising firm in autumn 2021 using my sister to introduce me."

Other SMART goals that a truffle can have include the following:

To further my sales career, I'm seeking an inside sales internship with a social networking startup in Los Angeles.

"I'm interested in working as a development intern for a charity in Washington, DC, focused on women's concerns."

"I want to intern with a San Francisco-based indie fiction publishing company to see if I want to work in publishing."

Do you see how much more effective the SMART target is than just making general goals? You can know precise what you want if you are particular. That way, you won't be wasting anyone's time by having them do the work for you when it comes time to go to your network and start asking around for internships.

In other words, if someone approaches us and says, "I don't know what I want to accomplish with my life," that would need a lengthy conversation that, to be honest, we would want to avoid.

If they inquire, "Do you know any sales managers at Silicon Valley-based B2C tech companies?

"In ten minutes, we'll expose them to three.

Finding your "ikigai" and focusing on the end result is critical.

Make a list of your ideal employers.

Take your SMART objectives from above and begin making a list of all the businesses you have for them.

In all honesty, it doesn't matter whether you know whether or not these businesses now offer internships.

The goal is to list 20–30 "dream firms" that you would adore working for as an intern, whether the position is paid or unpaid.

Pro hint: You may essentially approach any business to request an internship. Even if they do not recently have any jobs listed, you may try to "wow" a potential employer and pique their interest in working with you. It is a more challenging method but unquestionably more "truffle" in nature.

Most individuals do it in reverse

The scary part is how many pupils do this entirely backward.

Instead of listing the businesses, they'd want to intern with, they search Facebook or job boards to see what's available.

So they wind up accepting some meaningless internship that they detest and want to finish before their first day is through.

That is a "salt" mindset, plain and simple.

Making a fantasy list is the initial step, while a truffle begins with what THEY WANT.

3. Plan out your search

It is wise to keep it orderly when you absorb all this information from the sources above (and other places).

To keep track of all the internships you've found while applying, be sure to add them all to a Google or Excel spreadsheet.

At least, when recording, we advise you to include the name of the organization and your position. Moreover, the duration of the internship, the deadline, and if you have already applied or not.

Keep your spreadsheet current and secure. When you are actually applying for the internship, it will be beneficial. (We assure you that we are almost there.)